RARE VINTAGE PHOTOS FROM THE LAST DAYS OF FEUDAL JAPAN

American scholar Arnold Genthe took these pictures way back in 1908 and they show a very different Japan. In his photos, Genthe decided to focus on natural, everyday scenes from peoples lives.

These photos are from the Meiji period, which started in 1868 and lasted until 1912. They show the last days of feudal Japan and a country before it was ravaged by two world wars. Now more than a century old, these images are a valuable record of a more serene period in Japan’s history.